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First, I must say this: there is NOTHING like homemade noodles with a
hearty, meaty sauce. Nothing. Now, I’d never pass up pasta of any kind.
I have a pantry full of dried pasta and it’s my favorite food on earth.
But once I sunk my teeth into this homemade pasta Ryan made—covered
with his rich Bolognese Sauce—I knew I’d finally come home.

Let’s start this tutorial with Ryan’s words. The pasta dough was simple as can be, as his brief synopsis will illustrate.

“Two eggs per one cup of flour. Make well in flour, crack in
eggs, and slowly mix with hand. Knead by hand until dough becomes smooth
and pliable, adding flour to the board as necessary. Let rest for a
little while before rolling it out. I usually figure one egg per person
to determine how much to make. Example: Two eggs and one cup of flour
would make enough pasta dough for a dinner for two. Got it?”

Got it.

Now let’s see it in action!

Make a well in the flour. Crack the eggs into the well.

This is how Marlboro Man’s great-great grandmother started any baked good, and she’d do it right in the flour bin.

Once they’re cracked in…

Start mixing it lightly with one hand…

Until it’s all combined.

Turn it out onto a floured surface…

And begin kneading it, rolling and punching and pushing, until it’s done.

See the texture of the surface at this point?

Do
you see how it’s “tacky” and not very smooth? That means it’s not ready
yet. You need to work it, baby, work it. Own it, until the gluten has
gone crazy and the dough is smooth.

There’s no right or wrong way to knead. Just push it, pull it, tickle it, massage it.

Just be sure to take it out to dinner first.

It’s all ready when it looks like this!

Smooth, not sticky or tacky.

Stick it in a plastic bag if you’re going to use it later, or just
let it rest for a little while on the counter if you’re getting ready to
make it now.

When
you’re ready, roll it out on a floured surface as thinly as it’ll go.
The noodles will plump up quite a bit when they boil in the water, so
the thinner you can roll it, the better.

Cut
the noodles really thin. You can use a sharp knife (if you can keep it
in a straight line), a pizza wheel, or a long pizza/bread cutter like
this one.

Ryan was a little busy, so he recruited my friend Lindy to finish up the noodle.

I just love Lindy.

Lindy got a little over-zealous with the flour…but I won’t hold it against her.

She did a great job cutting the noodles.

To cook the noodles, just boil them in salted water (very important!) for probably two minutes. They cook lightning fast, so don’t let ‘em go too long.

Mmmmm. Noodles.

Ryan drained the noodles, them tossed them with some dried herbs (I didn’t have any fresh. Poor planning, Pioneer Woman!)

Then he put the noodles on a huge platter…

Instructions

Short-Term or Freezer Storage

1

Place your cut pasta on a non-stick surface. Small, rolled
pastas can easily fit on a plate while longer pastas such as linguine or
lasagna noodles should be hung on a drying rack, or placed on a tea
towel or piece of wax paper. You can also bundle long pastas in nests.
Just toss them with a bit of flour and gather a bundle into the nest
shape to keep the noodles from sticking together.

2

Allow your pasta to dry for one hour. Test the dryness of
your pasta to ensure that it's about as dry as the pasta you'd purchase
in the refrigerated case at your local grocery store.

Place the dried pasta in a sealable bag and store in your
refrigerator or freezer. Be sure to write the date on the bag so that
you'll know how fresh
your pasta is when you pull it out Refrigerated fresh pasta will last
up to three days, while frozen fresh pasta should be consumed within
three months.

Long-Term Storage

4

Follow the directions in Step 1 above.

5

Allow your pasta to dry for at least 24 hours. Make sure it is completely dry.

6

Place the dried pasta in a sealable bag, write the date on the bag and store it in your pantry.

I've done it. Want to do more. I just have some 30 dollar pasta roller i picked up at bed bath and beyond. After it dries, I freeze it. It takes all day to make it, but if you can do it all day, like dedicated 6-8 hours, you will get a butt load of pasta. It tastes so much better, cooks really fast. Now I want to make some! Lol. I've done tomatoe pasta and spinach, too. It is really simple. Kids like to help.

Send me email updates about messages I've received on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.
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